Belarus and Russia agree joint defence system 'to counter Nato'

Belarus and Russia have said they will create a joint regional air defence system to counter the apparent threat posed by Nato, a senior Russian official has claimed.

By Matthew Day in Warsaw

4:17PM BST 08 Oct 2008

Speaking ahead of a series of meetings between defence officials from the two countries in Moscow, Pawel Borodin, head of the Russia-Belarus regional bloc, said that he expected both sides to sign an agreement confirming the plan to unify their defence systems on Nov 2.

He added that Nato's eastward expansion made the creation of the joint system necessary. "Military speaking, this is essentially a defence against Nato," he was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

In a further move indicating a strengthening of ties between the Moscow and Minsk, the Russian defence minister, Anatoly Serdyukov, said that defence co-operation was "continuing to develop", while his Belarussian counterpart, Leonid Maltsev, said that both sides had made headway in planning common tactics.

The statements will be seen as direct response to American plans to deploy an anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Despite assurances from Washington that the system is designed to counter threats from alleged rogue states in the Middle East, Moscow has opposed the deployment vehemently, arguing that it its primary targets are Russian armed forces.

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Closer military ties should also help to ease strains on the relationship between the two Eastern European states.

Once close allies, Minsk and Moscow have had a serious or rows following Russia's demand that its neighbour pays market rates for energy supplies, and, in what was seen as snub to Russia, Belarus's authoritarian president, Aleksander Lukashenko, even made overtures to the West.

But following parliamentary elections at the end of September that Western observers described as flawed, Mr Lukashenko has sought to reaffirm his friendship with Moscow.

"We aren't selling our friendship with Russia," he said during a meeting with Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday. "We never barter with anyone."